The Journal of Kate Stone

Kate Stone did not write in a nicely bound book or even in a simple notebook but rather on whatever loose paper she could acquire at the time. Responding to inquiries by John Q. Anderson in Jan 1954, Kate Stone’s daughter, Amanda Julia “Amy” Holmes, clarified that her mother wrote originally on plain paper and later copied these pages by hand and without revisions, destroying the original pages as she transcribed them. Since Kate Stone traveled with these accumulated pages, it seems likely that she kept them organized in some sort of satchel or perhaps bound them with twine.Kate Stone transcribed her original diary pages into two bound record books.

Kate Stone transcribed her original diary pages into two bound record books.

The binding of the first volume is labeled “Official Bond Record, Madison Parish.” The second volume is labeled simply “Journal.” Kate’s husband, Henry Bry Holmes, served as Clerk of the Madison Parish, Louisiana Court, and perhaps with is assistance, she likely acquired these books from the Madison Parish courthouse as a second-hand resource. A number of pages were removed from the beginning of the first volume, as if Kate discarded these before beginning to transcribe her journal pages.

The first page of volume one is dated Nov 1900. Kate Stone signed a cover page, with the top-half removed, and dated it 12 Jul 1907. Taken literally, these dates may imply that Kate worked over a period of six or seven years to transcribe her original journal pages. Kate Stone died on 28 Dec 1907, five months after signing the cover page.

In 1946, Kate Stone’s daughter, Amanda Julia “Amy” Holmes discovered the bound volumes containing her mother’s Civil War era journal in an old bookcase at her home, at least 38 years after Kate Stone’s death. In the late 1940s, Amy Holmes transcribed her mother’s journal by typewriter, making three copies. Seeking interest in publication, she shared her transcript and the handwritten journal with several parties.